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Granger1814 · 04-22-2009, 11:27 PM

**Many thanks to Granger1814, Leeness, Hermione_loves_Ron, Mamushkaleontti, and demented_death_eater for their input!

Welcome, everyone, to Knockturn Alley! This is Snitchseeker's premier location dedicated to Roleplaying anything and everything to your heart's content (within reason of course =P). I know that, for some of you, Role Playing may still be a foreign concept to you, which is the reason for this thread. This is the second version of the thread and hopefully it'll be a great help to you guys. If, after reading this, you still need help or have any questions, please refer to our Knockturn Alley Question Thread. If you just want to discuss Roleplaying in general, allow me to direct you to Knockturn Alley Cafe, our OoC Chat thread.

Table of Contents

Roleplaying Basics
Roleplaying Dictionary
Grammar Book
The Many Types of RPing - Find What Suits You Best
Genres, Plots, and Storylines
Creativity in a Box

(Links open in a new window.)

Granger1814 · 04-22-2009, 11:27 PM

Roleplaying Basics

What does RP and RPG stand for?
RP stands for Role Play/Role-Playing and RPG is an abbreviation for Role Playing Game.

What is the point of RPing?
In roleplaying, a person creates a character or selects a premade character and takes on the qualities of this character, interacting with other fictional characters to tell a story.

How do you do it?
Think of RPing like writing a fanfiction story, except in this case, you have numerous people contributing to numerous characters. No one person is in control of where the story goes or what happens. That’s what makes it interesting. It can also be viewed as a play done in written fashion.

Granger1814 · 04-22-2009, 11:27 PM

Roleplaying Dictionary

Biography: (Also called Bio) This is a written outline of your character. The starter of an RP may have a particular form of biography that they would like to be filled out, but in a basic format, a biography consists of the following: Name, Personal Information (Age, Gender, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, etc), Background/History, Appearance, Personality, Miscellaneous information (information that does not fit anywhere else)
Canon: According to this forum, canon means anything associated with the world that J.K. Rowling has created. Imaginative spells, creatures, etc that are made up by playersof an RPG are considered non- canon. Ex: Protego (shield spell) is considered canon while a spell such as Hefiuomouj (causes objects to hit target) would be considered non-canon. A cannon character, then, is a character created by J.K. Rowling Ex: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Godric Gryffindor.
IC: Stands for In Character. This is used whenever an OoC has been made and the person wishes to show that the character is now speaking rather than the player speaking. (See OoC)
OoC: Stands for Out of Character. This is used when the person portraying the character wishes to say something outside of the character’s actions/words. (See IC)
Made-Ups: Most RP’s give the opportunity for made-ups. These are characters that are essentially made-up or created by the player, having their own unique character traits and background. However, these made-ups may have to be tweaked to fit the plot of the story; such as being a particular creature or being of a certain age or sorted into a certain house.
Plot: A plot is basically a summary of what the RP will center around. There are many genres of plots, which will be covered later. In a plot, one should have a clear background, mention of the main characters, and a basic premise of what is expected to happen in the RP.
Setting: This is the time, location, and circumstances in which the story takes place. For example: A plot takes place within Hogwarts in the year 2062 while visiting students from Beauxbatons participate in daily school activities with the other Hogwarts students.
Point of View: This is the perspective that the story is being told from. In the RP's of Knockturn Alley, we ask that you use third person. Ex: Heather bounded onto the train, followed closely by her friend John. "We're finally going to Hogwarts!" She trilled, her brown eyes sparkling in happiness.
Mary-Sue: Mary-Sues are what people define as perfect characters; characters that have absolutely no flaws. They're popular, great at everything they do, and have no faults or have only faults that are hardly noticeable (Ex: blonde hair, blue-eyed girl with perfect skin, who was state champion volleyball player, senior prom queen, valedictorian, student of the year, editor of the yearbook, etc). As we know, there are no people like that in real life, so most of our members don't want to have it in the RP's. It makes things more realistic.
Gary-Stu: Term used for describing perfect male characters. See Mary-Sue above

Granger1814 · 04-22-2009, 11:28 PM

Grammar Book

We’ve noticed that more and more members who create RP’s wish for those joining to have proper grammar when writing. The following are a few tips on how to achieve this.

Capitalization: When RPing, it is much neater and easier to read a post if one uses capital letters in the correct places; particularly at the beginning of a sentence, names of characters, or names of places such as Hogwarts.

Spelling: It’s a great idea to have proper spelling when role-playing. If you aren’t certain how to spell a word, open up a word processor and type your RP paragraph there. The mistakes, if there any, will be highlighted. It is also understood that English is not the first language of all members here, and though we have not had any issues with this, please do not discriminate against those whose spelling may not be up to par with your standards.

Periods and other punctuation: Its always easier to understand someone's roleplaying when periods and commas are introduced in their appropriate places. Ex: Periods at the end of sentences and commas when making a list (I have a basket of apples, bananas, oranges, and pears.)

Also, if your character is posing a question, be sure to place a question mark symbol after the question. If you wish to combine two words such as did not into a contraction, an apostrophe should be used: didn’t.

Paragraphs: Paragraphs are a plus with role-playing. If you’re the type that enjoys writing long posts, breaking it into multiple paragraphs makes it easier for others to read and follow your ideas. One long paragraph may tend to confuse or frustrate the reader.

Quotations: When your character is speaking to another character, quotation marks should be used. It tends to be confusing when the words that are being spoken are part of the sentence, with no distinguishing marks offsetting the speech from the action.

Example: Lucy walked briskly through the grounds, only slowing once as she noticed a close friend. “Hello Jennifer!” She called, waving with a smile before she continued on her way.

Granger1814 · 04-22-2009, 11:28 PM

The Many Types of RPing
Find What Suits You Best

There are so many different styles that can be used to roleplay. The one you choose is based on your preference.

Below are some of the more common types.

The One-Liner

This type is very brief. Many, but not all members, have a rule of no one-liners allowed in RP’s. In Malfoy Manor and Salazar’s Lair, one-liners are absolutely forbidden.

Sarah walked into the classroom, took a seat, and pulled out a book.

The Novel RP'er

This type of roleplaying is the most common out of the lot and the most preferred. People who roleplay this way, roleplay as if they are writing a story of some sort. An example of this is below:

'Sarah looked down the corridor and headed slowly to the Professor's office. She was slightly nervous of meeting the Professor. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door. She opened it and greeted the Professor, "Hello there, my name is Sarah, when will class start?" '

The Advanced RP’er

This type of RPing is usually used in Malfoy Manor and Salazar’s Lair, though we have been seeing more of this in Borgin & Burkes.

With her long, blonde hair flowing down her back, Sarah turned the corner and glanced down the corridor. It seemed dark, almost oppressive. Though…that could be due to the fact that she was a first year. She was nervous, of course. Her family had been part of the wizarding world for quite some time, but the arrival of her letter had certainly been a shock.

Taking a few tentative steps, she glanced off to the side, noticing a portrait of a jolly looking gentleman. However, she did not stop to read the identifying plaque on the frame for her feet were already moving her along the corridor.

Finally, she stopped in front of a door. It was now or never. With a slightly trembling hand, she gave a swift knock. Moments later, she heard a voice from within ask her to enter.

She turned the knob, pushed open the door, and took two steps into the room. There, behind an impressive oak desk, sat a man with a pair of spectacles perched upon his nose. “Hello, Professor. My name is Sarah. I was wondering…when will classes begin?” She inquired, managing to speak without stumbling over her words.

The Asterisk RP'er

This type of RP'er uses asterisk's (*) to play out actions. This is probably best used for Normal roleplaying unless the member goes into detail whilst using the asterix. For example:

*Sarah looked down the corridor and headed slowly to the Professor's office. She was slightly nervous of meeting the Professor. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door. She opened it and greeted the Professor* "Hello there, my name is Sarah, when will class start?"

The Italics RP'er (actions)

There is two types of italics RP'ing. This one is where members italic all of the actions that they make. Like so:

Sarah looked down the corridor and headed slowly to the Professor's office. She was slightly nervous of meeting the Professor. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door. She opened it and greeted the Professor, "Hello there, my name is Sarah, when will class start?"

The Italics RP'er (speech)

This is exactly the same as the above apart from this time the member italics the speech that their character uses instead of the actions. An example:

Sarah looked down the corridor and headed slowly to the Professor's office. She was slightly nervous of meeting the Professor. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door. She opened it and greeted the Professor, "Hello there, my name is Sarah, when will class start?"

The Multi-Color RP'er

This type of roleplaying is where you can use any of the above types but use colors to show the differences between your actions and speech. An example is below:

Sarah looked down the corridor and headed slowly to the Professor's office. She was slightly nervous of meeting the Professor. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door. She opened it and greeted the Professor, "Hello there, my name is Sarah, when will class start?"'

Please note that you don't have to follow any of the above, you may choose your own style and you can merge two of the above etc. This is just a simple guideline to the most popularly used ones.

Granger1814 · 04-22-2009, 11:28 PM

Genres, Plots, and Storylines
What's it all about?

Adventure – The name says it all - an RP predominantly based on pulse-racing action and wild adventure. Chasing the bad guys . . . perhaps the bad guys are chasing you . . . explosions and near-misses . . . plot twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat . . . and perhaps you end up rescuing the damsel in distress.
Drama – Plot twists and turns are all part of a drama RP when the main character and friends/family deal with different situations and react to them in their own unique ways. There may be some action and romance involved, or even some heartache, too, as life's lessons are learned.
Horror – You don’t see many of these, but horror plots are based on fear, naturally. Please note that RPs in Knockturn Alley cannot exceed limits on gore and explicit content.
Humor – Humor tends to be more of a concept that characters bring, though it can be done as a silly plot, or something very off the wall that is meant for a good laugh. This isn’t seen very often, either.
Mystery – Quite simply, there is a mystery and the members of this RP must solve it.
Romance – A Romance Plot tends to be one that is based on the romance of two people or even a group of people.
Supernatural – These are the RPs in which Werewolves, Mermaids, and further lore, such as Vampires, Were-animals, etc. come into play. These have been increasingly popular over the years.
Suspense – If it leaves you anxious and gripping, your RP must be suspenseful.
Time-Turner – These are fun! This involves one person or a group of persons getting ahold of a Time-Turner and finding themselves back in time. Many times, Harry goes back to his parents time.
Tragedy – Driven by or leading to a death of a, or a number of, major character(s), a Tragedy RP usually has a downfall of some kind. (In plays, a Tragedy, as established by the Greeks, has the downfall of a hero.)

As seen above, there are a wide variety of plots that can be created in a certain genre or theme. The most popular of these seem to be romance, which is perfectly fine, but instead of having an entire RP based on just one genre, perhaps place it into the background or share it with another theme. For example, the main theme of a plot could be a mystery set in seventeenth century London, with undertones of romance throughout the plot. See? You just mixed three different genres together: mystery, time-turner, and romance, all in one plot.

By doing this, it becomes easier to contribute and assist in building up the plot for members aren’t restricted to roleplaying as much as they would if the plot was based on only one theme. It’s fun to mix a number of genres together; and as stated, it makes it easier for more people to RP together. Besides, if all the RPs created were of the same genre, things would get rather boring and repetitive. Try to be creative and come up with many different ideas! Romance is fun, but so is Supernatural or Time Turner or Tragedy. Plus, you have the added bonus of being able to expand your skills by roleplaying in many different situations and using many different emotions.

Granger1814 · 04-22-2009, 11:28 PM

Creativity In a Box
Or thinking outside the box

Everyone has a fountain of creativity within them, whether they believe it or not. Knockturn Alley provides an outlet for this creativity, whether you use it to make the best post that you can imagine or use it to create a plot that no one has ever seen before and that makes people say "wow! He/she’s certainly has a creative mind!”

Role playing allows writers to explore different views on the wizarding world. For many, this allows for them to create places and people who aren't ever mentioned. We can explore Common Rooms rarely visited, make up tales of characters hardly explored. It can even be used to change endings, play with "parallel worlds" or pairings that would never have otherwise happened.

Participating in a role play is like writing a fan fiction, except with many other people. You have to be creative, because you have control of only one character and must work with the input and ideas of many other people.

If you ever have an idea for a fan fiction you think might be fun, write it down. It might make good use for a role play!

Also, with the frequent use of the Room of Requirement for competitions, creativity is a must when competing. Not only can you impress the challengers, but you can impress yourself with your ability to create a special character or to immerse yourself in a world that you’ve never had the opportunity to be a part of. So slip on those thinking caps and get creative in your role plays!

Just remember; in a role play, it is your world. Creating life within the realms of this universe is only part of the fun. Even if you're apprehensive, get out there and do it! Practice makes perfect; you might not think you're great now, but after a while, you'll begin to improve your writing, your creativity and creations and after time, who knows? You might be a favorite role playing buddy!

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